


Babysitting

by embroiderama



Category: White Collar
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embroiderama/pseuds/embroiderama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diana takes Neal home with her after he's injured on the job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Babysitting

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [](http://love-82.livejournal.com/profile)[**love_82**](http://love-82.livejournal.com/) for [](http://fandom-stocking.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://fandom-stocking.dreamwidth.org/)**fandom_stocking**.
> 
> Spoilers for the beginning of S5.

Neal was lying prone on a bed in the emergency room with his eyes closed and one arm flung over his eyes to block out the bright overheat lights. The light kept filtering in through his eyelids, trying to bake his brain like heat lamps in a middle school cafeteria. He swallowed hard when the unwelcome thought of cafeteria food pushed his nausea up to a troublesome point, but there was nothing in his stomach to throw up and he knew it would hurt far too much to try. A few feet away, Peter and his doctor were talking about Neal, and he thought he should probably say something, maybe complain about not being included on the conversation when it was about him, but the whole thing sounded like too much work.

"Damn it," Peter said, sounding torn. "You don't think he needs to be admitted?"

"His scan was clear of bleeding, so I'd prefer to discharge him but there should be somebody to keep an eye on him at home."

And that was the problem. June was on a cruise, Mozzie was off doing god-knows-what in Toronto, and Peter and Elizabeth were leaving that night for a week of vacation in the Outer Banks with one of Peter's oldest friends and his wife. Peter had a lot of plans that involved fishing and barbecuing, and El had a Kindle filled up with books to read. Nobody's plans involved babysitting a concussed CI. Neal considered convincing the doctor that somebody would be home at June's, but Peter would never go along with it. He was trying to resign himself to a sleepless weekend in the hospital with nothing but bad food and bad TV to keep him company when an unexpected voice spoke up.

"He can come back to my place," Diana said, and if she didn't sound especially eager about it she also didn't sound like anybody was forcing her hand.

"Are you sure you're okay with that? I imagine you have your hands full with Theo."

"I'm sure, Boss." Now Diana sounded annoyed. Peter and Jones had been going out of their way to avoid asking anything extra of Diana since she came back from maternity leave, and neither of them seemed to notice how much it was pissing her off. "I can keep an eye on Caffrey and give him somewhere to sleep. It's not like I have to change his diaper or anything."

Neal shuddered at the thought, but Peter laughed quietly. "Thanks, Diana. I'm sure Neal would appreciate that."

Neal did, but he was too content to stay still to insert himself into the conversation. The doctor started talking to Diana about what symptoms she needed to watch for, but Neal tuned them out and drifted off to the sound of his pulse beating in his ears.

~~~

By the time Neal left the hospital with Diana, he was feeling better; his head still hurt but his stomach had settled and he could stand to keep his eyes open without feeling like somebody was stabbing him in the brain. The effort and change in elevation required to drag himself up to his apartment to gather what he needed for the weekend undid most of that progress and Neal spent the car ride to Theo's daycare and then to Diana's apartment reclined in the passenger seat with his eyes closed. While Diana went into the daycare, the blessed stillness of the car was enough to let Neal doze off, only to wake when Diana opened the door behind him and fastened Theo into his car seat.

"You're not going to get sick in my car, are you?" Her tone was gentler than her words.

"No."

"Okay, well, it shouldn't take too long to get to my place from here."

Sometime between her breakup with Christie and Theo's birth, Diana had moved to a secure building in Brooklyn. When she finally parked her car, Neal peeled his eyes open to see that they were in a comfortably dim parking garage. Diana slung her bag and Theo's diaper bag over one shoulder and picked up the baby carrier with her other hand. With nothing other than his small duffel bag on him, Neal felt like he had to ask. "Let me carry something?"

Diana gave him a wry look. "Just focus on staying on your own two feet, okay?"

"Will do."

Diana's building had an elevator, but by the time they got to her apartment Neal was exhausted. He slumped down on Diana's couch and folded forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands simultaneously cradling his head and covering his eyes. In the darkness, he started to feel detached, floating in space while the world slowly tilted around him, until he opened his eyes and lifted his head enough to take a few deep breaths into his hands.

When he felt a little steadier, Neal sat up and looked around Diana's apartment. The place she'd shared with Christie had been modern and glossy, but there was little trace of that aesthetic now. The living room was homey, the area dominated by the sectional sofa Neal was sitting on along with a large TV on the wall. Baby toys and paraphernalia were clustered in storage cubbies, and a cloth wall-hanging softened the look of the room further. Neal wouldn't have imagined Diana's apartment looking this way, but then he thought about the girl who grew up in tastefully decorated rooms that were never quite home, and it made sense that she wanted to give Theo something more comfortable.

Speaking of comfortable, the sofa was deep and soft, and Neal felt it drawing him down into its grip. He had meant to stay awake until Diana came back into the living room, but his eyes were trying to close and he didn't want to add a stiff neck from sleeping upright to his headache. Neal toed out of his shoes and shifted to stretch out on the couch with a small pillow under his head. He barely had time to feel the relief of being horizontal before he fell asleep.

~~~

"Hey, Caffrey? Neal?"

Neal's first thought when he heard Diana's voice was that he'd managed to fall asleep in the middle of a meeting, but then he registered the situation and opened his eyes to see Diana standing by the couch looking down at him. "Hi," he said before pushing himself up to sit. The room only slightly swam around him, and the increase of pain in his head wasn't horrible, so he figured he was doing okay. He smiled up at Diana where she stood holding Theo. "I like the yoga pants."

"Oh, shut up." Diana rolled her eyes but didn't look offended. "You feel like eating something?"

Neal checked in with his stomach and found that he was, in fact, somewhat hungry and not particularly nauseated. "A little bit?"

"I'll make you a sandwich." Diana bounced Theo in her arms then raised an eyebrow at Neal. "Do you think you could hold this guy for a few minutes without teaching him to pick any locks?"

"No guarantees." Neal reached out and carefully took Theo's weight as Diana put the baby down on Neal's lap. Theo made a face like he was thinking about crying, and Neal started bouncing his knee under Theo's diapered butt, eager to avoid that kind of noise. "Hey, has your mother taught you to tackle men twice your size yet?"

Theo looked up at Neal with his big brown eyes and smiled widely.

"I heard that!" Diana called out from the kitchen.

Neal lowered his voice. "You're not going to get away with anything, you know that? Even with me and Mozzie on your side."

Theo giggled and blew a disgusting spit bubble, and Neal figured it had to be the concussion making him feel so sappy. "You're a lucky kid. You don't know it yet, but you're really, really lucky."


End file.
